


Blurred Familial Ties

by masquerace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Lance takes the brother role, Post-Season 2, Rescue Missions, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Spoilers for Season 2, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 14:11:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10310003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masquerace/pseuds/masquerace
Summary: Pidge cannot believe this happened to her twice. She has a chance to recover what was lost, and it's nice to not have to do it alone for once.





	

In the aftermath of Shiro’s disappearance, they all did their best to stay busy. Lance and Allura ran test after test on both the Black Lion’s and the castle’s systems in hopes they ran across something that would explain what happened. Hunk and Coran stayed glued to the terminal, where they had a tracker going that hopefully would locate the missing paladin. Keith hardly left the training bay. And Pidge…

 

Pidge holed up in the Green Lion.

 

She tried to focus on one project after another, but nothing held her attention thoroughly enough to distract herself from Shiro’s disappearance. She couldn’t believe it happened _again_. Shiro had quickly patched the void losing Matt and her father had left, but with him now missing again the hole in her chest felt twice the size it used to be. The only thing keeping her from completely going numb was remembering that she now knew Matt was no longer in the hands of the Galra Empire.

 

Green purred softly as Pidge sunk lower into the cockpit seat.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I know, girl. I’m not alone in this. Just… let me hide a bit longer.”

 

The lion stayed silent.

 

“If Shiro were here, he would have found me by now…” She sighed. “If Matt were here, he’d be right here and teasing me until I smiled.”

 

_Matt could be there._

 

Pidge eyed her laptop resting on the ground. All the information she’d collected over the past several months was on that machine, and she could easily connect to the castle’s server through Green and hunt down the name of the rebel organization that rescued Matt. She may not know where her father is. She may not know where Shiro is. But she’s so close finding Matt.

 

“Alright. You’re right. That’s enough grieving. Time to get to work.”

 

It took three days for the rest of team Voltron to notice Pidge was more absent than usual. That is to say, no one had seen her in three days. Lance finally found her tucked away in her lion, furiously searching through every database and transmission she could hack into.

 

“Hey, Pidge? You in there?”

 

Her voice crackled over the cockpit intercom. “Did you find Shiro?”

 

“No…” Lance sighed. “What are you even doing up there?”

“Busy.”

 

“Come on, let me in. I brought you something to eat.”

 

“You’re not going to leave until I say yes, are you?”

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

The Green Lion kneeled down and opened her mouth, letting Lance clamber inside and up into the nook Pidge was tucked away in. She was barefoot and dressed down to her undershirt, and her glasses were tossed aside to reveal bags under her determined eyes. Her laptop screen flashed with lines of text and galactic maps fast enough to make Lance blink.

 

“Hey.”

 

Pidge paused for half a second to glance over her shoulder at the blue paladin. “I was wondering when someone would come looking for me.”

 

“We should have come sooner. We all panicked and went into overdrive trying to find Shiro that forgot how to be a team. Hell, _Keith_ hasn’t left the training room for about the same amount of time that you’ve been hiding out in here, and wasn’t he supposed to be our ‘fearless leader’ in case this happened? I know things are still piles of quiznak, but I was hoping for some normalcy. Plus, I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

 

“Thanks, Lance.”

 

“By the way, what’s with the no glasses? Don’t you, like, need those or something?”

 

Pidge smirked, and Lance relaxed at the familiar look on the green paladin’s face.

 

“Put them on.”

 

“What?”

 

“Put my glasses on.”

 

Lance did as he was told, and (he looked ridiculous, he was sure) he gaped when he realized the lenses were plain glass.

 

“They’re fake. I cannot believe this. You little master of disguise.”

 

She laughed softly. “Technically, only partially fake. They’re Matt’s extra pair, and I just swapped out the real lenses. I kept the real ones in my bag—y’know, in case he still didn’t have his glasses when I found him.”

 

“He’s lucky to have you as his sister.” Lance set the glasses back down and leaned forward onto the back Pidge’s chair. “I know my baby sister would lose it if something happened to me— _is_ … is probably losing it…” He swallowed, trying to shove the homesickness away. “But you’ve never stopped trying to find Matt and your dad. That makes you a better sibling than your brother probably deserves.”

 

“Matt’s—” Pidge choked as her computer beeped softly and a series of nine video feeds covered the screen. “Oh my god.”

 

Lance leaned closer. “What’d you find?”

 

“Th-this, this, this! This is a _live_ feed, Lance. I cut into the surveillance cameras set up at the HQ for the rebel group that rescued Matt from the Galra, and _look._ ”

 

Pidge shakily pointed to one of the feeds on the screen and a small light haired human sat on a couch drinking something quietly.

 

“Is that…?” Lance whispered.

 

“It’s Matt. _I found him_. Lance, I found him!” Tears welled up in Pidge’s eyes, but anyone could tell they were out of pure joy.

 

Lance tapped on Green’s controls and opened a communication feed with the main controls in the castle.

 

“Hey, Allura.”

 

The confusion was evident in her voice. “Lance? What are you doing on the Green Lion?”

 

“I’m helping Pidge. We—”

 

“I _found_ Matt. I know where he is, and he isn’t even that _far_.” Pidge cut in, but Lance couldn’t blame her excitement.

 

“We’re going to go get him, and you can’t stop us.”

 

Allura sighed heavily. “Lance and Pidge. I understand how important this is, but we have already lost one paladin this past week, and we cannot afford to lose another. What if we receive a distress signal and need Voltron?”

Pidge scoffed. “We can’t form Voltron whether we’re here or not. That’s the truth no matter how desperate a signal we receive. We aren’t going into dangerous territory, anyway. It’s a rebel camp, and we will go in with all the diplomatic grace you taught us. Allura, _please_. He’s less than a day’s journey away.”

 

Lance held his breath while they waited for Allura to respond. He could see the danger in both of them leaving, but there was no way he was going to let Pidge go on this mission alone. Especially because it looked like she hadn’t slept since Shiro went missing.

 

“Very well. But both of you must maintain contact with the castle while in your lions at all times. And if we need you, you must return.”

 

“Deal.”

 

“Deal.”

 

Pidge switched the communication off for the time being before grabbing at her discarded armor lying about. Lance headed out to get dressed and in his lion, and the pair were ready to go in record time.

 

Lance switched the communication feed on and settled in. “Pidge, Allura. I’m good to go.”

 

“Then let’s go get my brother.”

 

“Good luck, paladins.”

 

The journey to the rebel base felt longer than it was due to anticipation. Lance did his best to keep chattering through the radio to help keep Pidge from falling asleep at the helm. The fatigue was evident in her voice, but overwhelming excitement and determination trumped any desire her body had for sleep.

 

When they approached the planet the base was on, Lance tried to hail the rebel com towers. “Greetings, this is the Blue Paladin and Green Paladin of Voltron. We wish to land and talk to you guys for a bit.”

 

“What do you want? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be here? If any Galra ship discovers our location…”

 

“We’re looking for someone, and we believe he may be with you.” Lance tried to keep his voice professional.

 

“How do you know?”

“We learned you rescued a group of Galra prisoners a few weeks ago, and the one we’ve been looking for was among them.” Pidge seemed more on edge than Lance.

 

He worried for a few moments about what would happen if the rebels refused to let them land. Pidge would want to land anyway—she was ferocious when she wanted to be, and this was one reason for fighting that was way up her list. But if they got into an altercation with this group who may be beneficial to Voltron in the near future, Allura would never forgive them and they may only cause more problems for themselves.

 

“Very well. You have permission to land.”

 

Lance breathed a sigh of relief and let Pidge lead them down to the surface. They dropped down out of their lions and were met by just over a dozen rebel soldiers. One stepped out in front of the rest and introduced herself.

 

“My name is Gasak, and I am honored to have our base visited by two of the Voltron paladins. Forgive the precautions. We must be careful.”

 

Pidge nodded. “We understand. Now, if you could please lead us to the rescued prisoner we’ve been searching for.”

 

“Of course, follow me inside.”

 

They trailed behind Gasak, flanked by the rebel soldiers. Lance felt mildly uncomfortable but squashed down any thoughts of an ambush. _They’re being careful._ Gasak was very pretty, and Lance figured part of his unease came from the number of pretty female aliens who tried to kill him.

 

“What’s the name of the one you search for?” Gasak asked.

 

“Matt.” Pidge quickly answered. “Matthew Holt.”

 

Gasak nodded. “Assuming he goes with you, I will be sad to see him leave. He’s very smart, that one.”

 

They rounded a corner and… there he was. Matt was leaning over an electrical unit, fiddling with the circuitry inside.

 

Pidge removed her helmet. “…Matt?”

 

He looked up and a wide range of emotions tore across his face before he spoke. “Katie?”

 

“Oh my god, it’s really you. I’ve been looking _everywhere_ for you.” Pidge ran to Matt and the siblings embraced tightly.

 

“What are you doing here? And who is that? And, what are you wearing—oh my god, your _hair_!”

 

“Well, that’s kind of a long story.”

 

Lance stepped forwards and waved. “I’m Lance. A friend.”

 

“He actually reminds me of you a lot.” Pidge grinned. Lance hadn’t seen her this happy since he met her. “Now, come on! I have so much to tell you and ask you, but unfortunately I can’t do that here. We have to get back to the castle. And… I’m hoping you’ll come with us?”

 

Matt seemed uncertain. “Wait, castle? Never mind… Gasak and her cadets have been so nice since I’ve been here, and I’ve finally felt like I could do something, despite not having my glasses.”

 

Pidge’s face fell. “So… you’re staying here.”

 

“No…” Matt shook his head. “Family always comes first. Dad taught us both that.”

 

Lance grinned wildly as Pidge squeezed Matt tighter in glee. For once, things looked like they were looking up.

 

“Whoa, Kate, when did you get so strong?”

 

She laughed. “A few months training for battle in space will build a few muscles on anyone.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“I’ll explain later, Mattie.”

 

The three were escorted out of the base and back to the lions, where Pidge was thrilled to introduce Green to her brother. They thanked Gasak and the rest of the rebels before boarding and heading back to the Castle of Lions.

 

“Allura, this is Lance.”

 

“I’m glad to hear from you. Did everything go smoothly?”

 

“Matt’s with me!” Pidge practically squealed through the communication feed. “We’re bringing him home.”

 

“Well, I for one cannot wait to meet him. I’ve informed Coran and the other paladins of your search and rescue, and they’re all just as curious as I am about Matt.”

 

“Have you been talking about me?” Matt teased, leading to a laugh from Pidge.

 

Allura laughed quietly. “I’m watching your location on the map. If only Shiro would pop up on here.”

 

“We’ll figure out where he went soon, Allura. No way can I let _Keith_ be the leader.” Lance grinned.

 

“Wait, Shiro?”

 

Pidge shook her head. “Part of that same long story, Matt.”

 

“This is going to be one heck of a story.”

 

When they returned to the castle, everyone crowded around Matt and celebrated his rescue. They collectively agreed Pidge should sleep before she starts answering Matt’s questions, and she was too tired to argue at that point. In the meantime, the rest of the team gave Matt the grand tour of the castle, officially welcoming him to their little intergalactic family.


End file.
